Of all the genres, horror comics have some of the most incredible art. By presenting stories that often include disturbing images or concepts in a beautiful style, the creators are able to emphasize both the horrors of the story and the beauty of the art through their contrast.
Many artists within the horror genre enjoy experimenting with dark tones to set the mood, as well as shocks of bright color to highlight episodes of violence or surprise. Another popular technique for art in horror comics is the use of a painterly style, which can add more depth or realism to the story. If the reader is going to be terrified, at least they can enjoy incredible art.
10 Arkham Asylum Presented Beautiful Madness
Beauty is probably the last thing that comes to most peoples' minds when they think about the infamous Arkham Asylum from the Batman comics. The location has typically been portrayed as a bleak, wretched, unappealing structure where the worst of the worst of Batman's enemies are kept sequestered from society.
Despite its bleak setting, Arkham Asylum, written by Grant Morrison, features remarkable art by Dave McKean. The panels range from realistic depictions to practically impressionistic splashes of color against black backgrounds, particularly when portraying the Joker and his chaotic nature. This title is truly a unique and compelling visual experience.
9 Die Brought Tabletop Gaming To Life
Kieron Gillen wrote Die, a comic book series about a group of friends who got magically transported into the fantasy world of the tabletop game they played. From the very start of the comic, the group is surrounded by dark mysteries, and the world in which they find themselves is full of dangers.
The graphics for the series were created by French artist Stephanie Hans. Each page is truly a work of art. Hans said once in an interview that each painted page takes her on average a full day to create. The time has clearly been worth it, because this is one of the most beautiful, though at times disturbing, books on the market.
8 Beautiful Darkness Presented A Deceptively Childlike Tiny World
In the graphic novel Beautiful Darkness, by Fabien Vehlmann and Kerascoët, a group of tiny people are expelled from their home in the corpse of a young girl. Suddenly homeless, they must try to survive the harsh wilderness of the forest in which the body was lying.
The style of this book looks like a children's fairy tale, but this is not a child-friendly story. Despite the cute appearance of the tiny people, which are drawn in a cartoonish style, and the lovely washes of watercolor colors, the story told in this book is dark and only gets more harrowing as it progresses. The children's book-like appearance of this story only emphasizes the horror in its story.
7 High School Was Rough But The Art Was Brilliant In Wytches
In Eisner-award-winning author Scott Snyder's series Wytches, excessive bullying led the Rook family to move to a new town. Unfortunately for them, the new town had a dark secret and their teenage daughter Sailor ended up right in the middle of it.
Snyder's dark story is brought to life by art by Jock. The real star though is the colorwork done by Matt Hollingsworth. Bright colors leap from dark, broody backgrounds. Watercolor-like washes are interrupted by streaks or speckles of paint. Dramatic contrasts are captured between shadows and highlights. The overall effect is both beautiful and dark, and captures the mood for the story perfectly.
6 Underwinter Set The Scene With Watercolors
Ray Fawkes both wrote and created the art for the series of comics presented under the Underwinter title. Each series of the comic told a different tale set in the same universe. The first was about a string quartet that must save the world with its music, the second about a family facing a curse, and the third about a witch who holds the key to the afterlife.
While critical response to the series' writing was mixed, its art is beautiful and evocative. Fawkes has created this world using loose watercolors and mostly calming color pallettes, occasionally interrupted by splashes of red. The end result is truly a special work of art.
5 The Eyes Of The Cat Introduced A Legendary Team
Although better known for their sci-fi volumes, legendary filmmaker and comic book writer Alejandro Jodorowsky and artist Moebius' first collaboration was on a book called The Eyes of the Cat. The story had almost no words, relying almost exclusively on Moebius' art to tell the tale.
The art, in black ink on yellow paper, is dramatic and detailed. Moebius' intricate linework is augmented by dramatic angles and unexpected perspectives. The comic needs no color to tell its dramatic and horrific tale. The level of detail and character the artist was able to impart through only two colors is truly stunning.
4 Beasts Of Burden Told Horror From An Animal's Perspective
Writer Evan Dorkin wrote the first Beasts of Burden comic for a Dark Horse Halloween anthology, then proceeded to release more stories as he and artist Jill Thompson had time to work on them. The stories follow a group of intelligent animals, mostly dogs, who investigate supernatural occurrences in their town.
The tales told in these comics are beautifully accompanied by Thompson's art, which renders the eponymous animals in gorgeous bold watercolors. The comic is beautiful to look at, and the characters are adorable. This is a horror comic though, so anyone who is sensitive to bad things happening to animals may want to steer clear.
3 Idle Days Used Color To Create Ambiance
In the graphic novel Idle Days, Jerome is dodging the Canadian draft during World War II and hiding out at his grandfather's cabin in the woods. As he is dealing with the sudden violent death of his father, he becomes embroiled in another mystery involving the cabin and its history.
This book was written by Thomas Desaulniers-Brousseau, with art by Simon Leclerc. Leclerc's art provides an unsettling edge to the comic's panels, with his prolific use of reddish tones evoking feelings of blood and rust. The art is impressionistic, but with a sickly cast to it that leaves the reader primed for the sinister progression of the story.
2 Freaks Of The Heartland Took Readers To The Country
One of the most important functions of art in horror comics is setting the tone for the reader. When the story calls for the reader to feel fearful or suspenseful, the right art treatment can evoke those feelings without a single word.
In this unsettling story from writer Steve Niles, a family farm houses a dark secret that is threatening to come out. Artist Greg Ruth cleverly paints the scenes in these volumes primarily in grey and sepia hues, washing out the color from the pastoral location and lending it a deeply disturbing air. The figures are rendered in detail, and the nearly monotone color leads to dramatic and effective lighting effects that enhance the feel of the work.
1 Monstress Is Beautiful And Terrifying
Monstress is without doubt one of the most beautiful comics ever made. This multiple award-winning book from writer Marjorie Liu and artist Sana Takeda takes place in a fantasy realm based on a matriarchal version of early 20th-century Hong Kong. From the very start, this series does not shy away from gruesome imagery.
Takeda has rendered the art in each panel with intricate detail. The colors in the book are somehow both bold and faded, lending a slightly antique feel to the story. The beautiful style of the art is a stark contrast from the horrific content that emerges during the story. That contrast serves to make the book both more beautiful and more macabre.